COMMENTARY: Just say no to the likes of Bonds, Clemens, Sosa ... hard as it was ... for Baseball Hall of Fame

Got my Hall of Fame ballot in the mail the other day, and up until then I was thinking about which way to go regarding the steroid issue. Up to now, I have not voted for those with verified connections to steroid use.

But I was getting tired of the issue and I was considering simply voting on the player's record. Looking at numbers. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, etc., you've got my vote.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that was the easy way out. That way, the vote is purely objective. There is no real judgment required.

Problem is, that's not what the Hall ballot instructions require. The instructions are very concise and clear-cut:

"Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."

The key words there are "integrity, sportsmanship and character." I've heard many highly respected baseball writers say they were voting solely on each player's performance on the field, that they didn't want to cast "judgment" on a player's character.

I completely understand the reluctance some writers have to judge these players. As flawed human beings ourselves, what gives us the right to judge the players?

My answer to that is I'm not judging the players as human beings. I'm not going to judge a player based on things like if he cheated on his wife, was caught drinking and driving or never donated to charity despite making millions of dollars.

My judgment would be based simply on how it relates to baseball. Quite simply, cheating is not "sportsmanlike." These players did not respect the integrity of the game. They showed a lack of respect for their fellow players who were "clean" and for all the players who came before them.

They showed no concern for young fans who look up to these players as heroes. Whether they like it or not, they are role models. They are either positive role models or negative role models.

And it's important because the game is an integral part of American culture.

I've also heard the argument that the players connected to steroids are not the first to cheat, that there are players in the Hall of Fame who have cheated. Gaylord Perry threw a spitball. Many players used amphetamines and other substances that might have helped them perform better.

But bad behavior doesn't justify more bad behavior. Just because some players may have bucked the system and found a way into the Hall doesn't mean we should ignore the question we're faced with now.

Discounting the issue is the coward's way out.

Another aspect to my direction in the vote is hearing how there is a majority of players currently in the Hall who are steadfast against bringing in known steroid users into their exclusive club.

It seems they feel the honor of being in the Hall would be lessened, diluted, with the induction of the steroid-era players. It also makes me look harder at players from the era who certainly had opportunities to use but didn't, and still had remarkable careers.

I look at a player like Fred McGriff, who played from 1986-2004 without a hint of any connection to steroids. He received only 23.9 percent of the vote last year, but look at his record: 19 seasons, .284 average, 493 home runs, 1,550 RBIs, 2,490 hits, five All-Star Games, 10 seasons of 30-plus home runs, 100 or more RBIs eight times, .300 or better four times, .303 career postseason average and on and on.

A look at the long list of players on the Mitchell Report that implicated players for steroid use shows many players who never will be considered for the Hall of Fame. They used not to make the Hall, but to improve themselves as players enough to make more money and play a little longer. Fortunately for them, they are not placed under the spotlight like Bonds or Clemens, and essentially got away with it.

The pall the steroid era has cast on baseball is tangible.

There are players who never used but have to deal with questions, accusations and innuendo if they put up big numbers just because they played at a time when steroid use was rampant.

Even now, when testing is much more stringent, players who put up big numbers are looked at with suspicious eyes. The steroid era has forever tarnished the game, and the players who are known to have used should not be awarded the game's highest honor - induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Joe Haakenson is a former baseball writer for the Los Angeles News Group